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<H2 ALIGN="CENTER">Travelling With A Toddler In China</H2>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">&copy; By <A HREF="mailto:sewaugh@istar.ca">Susan Waugh</A></FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Prepare your child before the trip, but save
intensive preparation for 1-2 weeks before the trip. Aidan knew for several
months that we were adopting a mei mei, and that we would all be going to China
to bring her home, but we didn&#146;t discuss any details until we received
Morgan&#146;s proposal.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Tell her the big steps of the trip (airplane
rides, train trips, sleeping in hotels...) Reiterate constantly that
you&#146;re all going together, and will all be returning together. This last
is particularly important so your toddler doesn&#146;t think she&#146;s going
to be left in China in place of the &#145;new baby&#146;.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">To minimize insecurity while travelling, tell
your child what will happen each day, one day at a time. We would go over the
next day&#146;s events with Aidan at bedtime, and often would review them again
at breakfast. We were careful to let her know about her basic routines, like
where we would eat, and sleep.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Your daily travel/adoption business schedule
will leave you with no choice but to be flexible with your child&#146;s
routines, but try to retain enough familiar elements from home to keep her
reassured. Things like bathtime, bedtime songs and stories and a favorite
receiving blanket kept Aidan happy at sleeptime, even though she was in a
different place every 2 nights for the first 8 days of the trip.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Try and have your child nap every day. The
extra sleep will help her over jet lag, and help contain over-excitement. Aidan
had given up regular naps by the time we went to China, but she slept at least
an hour every day. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Be prepared to give up long sightseeing trips.
Much as we would have liked to return to the Great Wall, or the Forbidden City,
we knew that it would be unfair to Aidan to put in 8 hour &#145;tourist&#146;
days, on top of all the required travel. Instead, we found parks (with
playgrounds) very close to our hotels in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. In Beijing,
we went on our own for a leisurely stroll around the Summer Palace, and also
had a lovely walk around Beihai park.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Bring a very few small favorite toys, and a few
new toys, which you can bring out 1 at a time over the course of the trip. We
brought and found to be very useful; 3-4 favorite books, a travel size
MagnaDoodle, a new coloring book (Lion King, Aidan&#146;s favorite at the
time), 6 crayons, an electronic blackjack game (great for noisy button pushing)
and 3 miniature Thomas the Train cars. We gave Aidan the blackjack game on the
plane ride over, the coloring book on the train to Maoming, and the MagnaDoodle
on the ride back to Guangzhou.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Have your child carry her daily necessities in
a child-size backpack. Aidan at 2-1/2 could easily carry a few toys and snacks
for herself, and was proud to have &#147;big girl&#148;
responsibilities.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Give your older child an appropriate baby care
&#145;job&#146;. Aidan was responsible for carrying Morgan&#146;s baby toys,
and giving them to her when she felt Morgan needed a toy.Having a big girl job
helped Aidan adjust to having a sister (sometimes).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Once in China, buy some favorite snacks for
your child, and have some in your daypack at all times. We found familiar foods
like apple juice, crackers, fresh and dried fruit, cookies and chips were
easily available. Snacks are essential, as mealtimes are often irregular while
on the road. We also found &#147;Raman&#148; style noodles everywhere, and
Aidan often had these as a snack or light meal - and you can prepare them in
your hotel room. Do bring some plastic cutlery for your child to use.</FONT> 
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">For meals, we would try and offer Aidan
something familiar for at least one meal a day. Aidan is very good about trying
and eating new foods, but she would get fed up after too many days of new
dishes. Be flexible about balanced meals and &#145;proper&#146; nutrition: One
of Aidan&#146;s happiest suppers was a large order of fries in the lobby bar at
the Radisson in Beijing.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">If she&#146;s still small enough, bring a
backpack carrier for your older child. We used this for Aidan in all crowded
transit areas, like airports, and train &amp; bus stations. This meant we had
hands free for carrying luggage, etc. and didn&#146;t have to worry about
keeping track of her in a crowd.You can bring the pack onto the plane as
carry-on luggage.Aidan also took turns in an umbrella stroller in Beijing while
Morgan was in her baby trekker.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">Above all, make it your goal that your whole
family enjoy the trip. It&#146;s not the end of the world if discipline is a
little lax for 2 weeks. Having Aidan with us, and watching those first bonds
form between her and Morgan, made it all worthwhile.</FONT></P>
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<B>Last Updated: July 10th, 1999 </B></FONT> 
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